Of License Plates

Since I've arrived in Japan, I've been continually perplexed by one thing: Japanese vehicle license plates.  In relation to everything else, I'm sure this is a minor problem, but it really has kept me in a continuous state of bemusement, and so today, I've decided to fix it. I've asked friends, read articles, and after much research, I can finally say that I understand the basics.

Like all things related to the bureaucracy, it's unnecessarily complex. Here's what I've found:

1. License plates (or ナンバープレート), are issued by the national government except in certain circumstances. These primarily include when the vehicle is considered a small motor vehicle: for example, motorcycles. In this case, the license plate will be issued by the local municipal government.
2. Although plastic plates are being introduced, most plates are still made out of aluminum. The size of your plate and numbers will depend on the size of your vehicle.
3. The color of your license plate and numbers depends on how many cc's your car is.
• General vehicles (though at times 360 cc vehicles are included) receive license plates with a white background and green letters if they are for home/personal use. They receive a green background with white letters if they are for business use.
• Other light vehicles (below 660 cc) receive license plates with a yellow background and black letters if they are for home use, and a black background with yellow letters if they are for business use.
• Two-wheeled vehicles (bicycles, motorcycles, etc.) that exceed 250 cc are issued license plates with a white background, green letters, and a green border if they are for home use. The opposite is used for business use.
• Two-wheeled vehicles below 250 cc are issued license plates with a white background and green letters for home use, and the opposite if they are for business use.
• Otherwise, plates for official business (ambulance, etc.) are issued plates with white background and red letters. Though there might be a case where they have a red background and black letters (as in police officers).
4. The number that goes above the other numbers depend on further cc values within those previously mentioned. The hiragana depends on how many people can sit in your car.
5. The amount of • (ten) or dots that you receive along with the main numbers depend on when and where the plate is issued.
6. Your city name will be displayed in kanji except for special circumstances. These include foreign dignitaries' and military vehicles, along with those that seek to go abroad with their license.

For pictures and further description, please refer to the Wiki page below.

Source:
日本のナンバープレート (Wiki)

Of Golden Week

It's Golden Week（ゴールデンウィーク）, which means basically it's a week of holidays here in Japan. Golden Week is not so much holiday in and of itself, but rather it's known as being a period of rest. Businesses will often close during this time, and actually I think my post office is closed again. If I need to mail anything, I'll have to go to Kyoto Station (京都駅).  Back to the point, Golden Week is also called Oogon-shuukan (大金週間 literally golden week), Oogata-renkyuu (大型連休, large holiday), or just GW for short. Typically, families will make trips during this time, and it's a good time to meet up with people who are far away that you don't see very often. Actually, places like Hawaii normally boom during this week with the flood from Japanese tourists. This year, however, more people are going up to Touhoku (東北) to try to boost the economy up there.

Golden Week officially starts on April 29 and it goes till May 5. April 29 is celebrated as Shouwa Day (昭和の日), and it is meant to be a reflection on the late Emperor Hirohito's reign. May 3 is Constitution Memorial Day (憲法記念日). On this day, people are supposed to remember the 1947 Constitution of Japan. This gave Japan a parliamentary system of government, and basically created the emperor into a figurehead. This constitition is also known as the Postwar Constitution (戦後憲法) or the Peace Constitution (平和憲法), due to its Article 9 which prevents the Japanese from waging war, or in effect, having a military itself. Therefore, the Self-Defense Force is really an extension of the police force here in Japan. The article itself (taken from Wikipedia because I don't have the Japanese Constitution on hand) reads as following:

第九条　日本国民は、正義と秩序を基調とする国際平和を誠実に希求し、国権の発動たる戦争と、武力による威嚇又は武力の行使は、国際紛争を解決する手段としては、永久にこれを放棄する。

二　前項の目的を達するため、陸海空軍その他の戦力は、これを保持しない。国の交戦権は、これを認めない。 

The English translation if you're curious is here:

ARTICLE 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. (2) To accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized. 

Green Day (みどりの日) is celebrated on May 4.  It's a day to be close to nature.

Finally, we have Children's Day (子供の日). Originally called Boy's Day (端午の節句) it's a day to celebrate children and think of their happiness.  On this day, the carp streamers (鯉幟) are risen to show the male children in the family. This is done in the hope that the boy will become a strong and healthy man. A picture is here. The black carp is the father. The pink one, I believe, is the mother. And the blue one is the boy.

For this reason, Golden Week ends up being a lot of fun. You get to hang out with people, and spend some quality time not working. It's a good change, though of course I'm still busy studying from the JLPT and trying to improve language-wise. Tai's of course still job-hunting. I'm off to Arashiyama for a few hours. Take care!

 Source:
Article 9